Down along Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou are secret, secluded spaces where alligators roam free, and cypress trees hung with Spanish moss create an otherworldly backdrop. In Lafourche Parish, the swamps are vast and wild, and the Cajun people have developed time-tested ways for thriving amid the watery landscape. The best way to get to grips with this magical part of the world is by heading into the heart of the swamp with a local guide.
Fly across the water on an airboat piloted by Chad Matherne, owner of Airboat Tours by Arthur Matherne. Most of the year, his fleet travels Bayou des Allemands, which marks the border between St. Charles and Lafourche parishes, to visit a 1,700-acre private swamp teeming with wildlife.
Matherne has been driving airboats since the age of eight. “I had to tape a 4x4 against the gas pedal so I could reach it,” laughed Matherne. “I would go out with my dad hunting and fishing for deer, ducks, rabbits and everything else. If something happened, he wanted me to be able to drive him back. I fell in love with it.”
After leaving home to work in the oil fields, Matherne was eventually drawn back to the family business, which he took over when his parents retired in 2023. “I have a passion for it,” he explained. “I do what I love to do, and I get paid to entertain people from all over the world. People tell me this is the best thing they’ve done while in the New Orleans area. It gives you that sense of accomplishment that what we’re doing is positively affecting people’s lives.”
In Kraemer, this iconic vertical lift bridge crosses Bayou Boeuf, right alongside the Zam's Swamp Tours' boat launch.
Matherne offers various tours to cater to visitors’ needs. “An hour tour is a ride. It’s a chance to experience the airboat, but there’s not a lot of time to focus on feeding alligators and learning about swamp education,” he noted. “The one-and-a-half-hour tour gives us a little more time to find gators. Most of the time, I’m able to catch a small one and bring it on the boat before we release it back to its mama. Two hours is an extended tour, more in-depth with the history of the area and ecology of the wetlands. You also get a little thrill ride and get up close with wildlife. It’s very well-rounded.”
The last tour of the day is a sunset tour, leaving out an hour before dark and arriving in the cypress swamp right at sunset. “It’s beautiful to see the sunset in the swamp, and once the sun goes down, we ride around another thirty minutes spotting the eyes of wildlife. Because they just see a bright light coming, they can’t judge how far we are, so we’re able to get much closer.”
Matherne’s is not the only swamp tour operating along the bayou. Over at Zam's Swamp Tours, seventh generation Cajun, ZZ Loupe, runs daily pontoon trips that launch at 1:30 pm out of Bayou Boeuf. But arrive early to walk through the ecological park, which features alligators, nutrias, snapping turtles, and more. A Zam’s tour offers an introduction to the Cajun way of life while cruising the waterways at slower speeds, looking for wildlife at every turn.
Visit Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou’s Swamp Tours section to learn more about tours visiting Lafourche’s enchanted swampland.
